Really Seeing Children

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Slow down, observe, delight, and practice really seeing children every day, for being with children in this way is not just a way of working, but a way of life.

Deb Curtis, in her more than 40 years as an early childhood educator, has cultivated a reflective teaching practice devoted to really seeing children. Through her collection of stories and photographs, learn to suspend your adult agenda to really see children’s perspectives and the amazing ways they experience the world. Taking up this practice will bring joy and deeper understanding to your work and life and allow you to engage with children in a more meaningful teaching and learning process.

"What I've come to understand is that the most important work I do to see a child in positive ways is within me. I must continually work to transform my own view of children’s behaviors, see their points of view, and strive to uncover how what I am seeing reveals the children’s deep desire, eagerness, and capacity for relationships. There is no more important or rewarding work than this." - Deb Curtis

Table of Contents

Introduction: An Invitation to Really See Children

Section 1
Cultivating the Ability and Skills to See Children

• Seeing Children
• No Ordinary Moments: Using Observations with Toddlers to Invite
• Further Engagement
• Seeing Children’s Lively Minds at Work
• Seeing Children’s Ideas
• Changes in How We See Children

Section 2
Planning Environments to Help You See Children

• Seeing Children Respond to Changes in the Environment
• Strategies for Enhancing Children’s Use of the Environment
• Creating Invitations for Learning
• Seeing Children Do More with Less
• Seeing and Supporting Children’s Rights to Choose
• What’s the Risk of No Risk?

Section 3
Seeing Children with Others

• Seeing Children’s Eagerness for Relationships
• Helping Children to See Themselves and Each Other
• Seeing How Children See Us

Section 4
Seeing Children and Theories of Development

• Seeing Children Find Endless Possibilities
• Seeing and Supporting Children’s Kinship with the Natural World
• Seeing Children Fully Immersed in Sensory Exploration
• Seeing and Appreciating Children’s Humor
• Seeing Children’s Pleasure with Food
• Can Babies Read and Write?

Section 5
Sharing the Stories of Seeing Children

• The Good-bye Game
• Wherever the Road May Lead: Investigating Pathways
• An Intentional Mess: “The Junkyard”
• “I See You”

Conclusion: Find Your Inspiration

Endnotes

ISBN: 978-0-942702-64-4